1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved pack unit for rotary finishing wheels and the like, and more particularly to an improved modular pack unit mounting means adapted to replaceably mount pack units having flap-like members of finishing material to a hub structure to form a finishing wheel.
The invention finds use in any type of rotary finishing wheel structure such as those employing abrasive sheets, bristles, or the like which are generally used for grinding, rough or finish abrasive working, brushing, burnishing, or the like. However, in the preferred embodiment of this invention, the improved pack units are employed in commercial automotive car washing establishments and are replaceably mountable to finishing wheels structures which would normally employ cloth, cloth-like material, felt-like material, or the like for use in washing, drying, buffing, polishing, or otherwise finishing the car. Additionally, the pack units of this invention may include any other type of conventional finishing material such as sewed sisal, pex, horsehair, leather or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
My own U.S. Patents are typical of the rotary finishing wheel structures and pack units of the prior art to which this invention relates and the numbers and issue dates of those patents are as follows: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,455,068, July 15, 1969; 3,535,833, Oct. 27, 1970; 3,621,622, Nov. 23, 1971; 3,626,646, Dec. 14, 1971; 3,685,217, Aug. 22, 1972; 3,768,214, Oct. 30, 1973; 3,772,833, Nov. 20, 1973; 3,798,847, Mar. 26, 1974; 3,800,481, Apr. 2, 1974; 3,807,099, Apr. 30, 1974; 3,813,829, June 4, 1974; 3,820,291, June 28, 1974; 3,842,547, Oct. 22, 1974; 3,914,908, Oct. 28, 1975; and Re28,118, Aug. 20, 1974. In so much that these patents teach various rotary finishing wheels, hub structures, and applications for rotary finishing wheels and pack units, they are incorporated by reference herein.
Generally, the pack units of the prior art have been replaceably attached to a finishing wheel structure by sliding an elongated rod through a clamp member fastened to the finishing material portion of the pack unit or through a bight portion of one or more plies of the pack unit itself. The bight portion often contains a cylindrical rod-receiving tube or U-shaped rod-receiving member. While a few of the pack units of the prior art are adapted to directly engage a slot on the periphery of the wheel, such pack units normally require complex external clamping members having a first clamping member for engaging the slot and a second complex clamping member for securing the flap-like plies of finishing material together. Furthermore, these complex structures often require a supplemental support rod for mounting, and are relatively expensive and difficult to assemble, remove and replace.
The improved modular pack unit of the present invention employs a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-install, remove, and replace pack-mounting assembly having an extremely simple construction.